Page 88 - Those Who Exhaust All Their Pleasures In This Life

86 THOSE WHO EXHAUST ALL THEIR PLEASURES IN THIS LIFE

cover what is right and proper, and act accordingly.
In the Qur’an, Allah gives this example of people who
do not use their minds:

The likeness of those who do not believe is that of the
beast that, even if one calls to it, can hear nothing but
a shout and a cry. Deaf, dumb, and blind. They do not
use their intellect. (Surat al-Baqara: 171)
The worst of beasts in Allah’s sight are the deaf and
dumb who have no intellect. (Surat al-Anfal: 22)
The concept of human intelligence includes the capac-
ity to think, conceive, make judgments, and draw conclu-
sions; the ability to comprehend a rare or sudden occur-
rence and understand, learn, and analyze; and the ability to
hone the five senses, sharpen the attention, deepen the
ability to think, and notice details. Consequently, those
who are deprived of wisdom may be able to live and pro-
vide for their needs without it, or to manage to a certain
point by training themselves to work by rote and using their
accumulated knowledge and experience. But wisdom
gives people a different depth and conception, for it opens
a vast horizon before them. These people can then guide
and direct others to what is true, react correctly to new or
unexpected occurrences, solve difficult and apparently
intractable problems, and always produce the best diagno-
sis for each problem. Besides, being able to live love and
trust can only come from wisdom. People can only love
and show respect insofar as their wisdom permits.
Wisdom raises the spiritual and emotional quality of every-
thing in life. There is richness in a wise person’s conversa-